The Eastern Nilotes: linguistic and historical reconstructions

111111 lilUfliuniiii]

THE LANGUAGES INVOLVED

Mr. Mansuk is a student of technology, natural resources & en-
vironmental studies at the University of Juba. Apart from sa ,
he has practical knowledge of English, Arabic, Swahili, and Lu-
ganda.

Ba is one of the best documented Eastern Nilotic languages,
and it is mainly for this reason that reference can frequently
be made to the following sources: Muratori 1948, Spagnolo 1933
and 1960, Tucker & Bryan 1966, and Yokwe 1977/78.

7.1.2. Kakwa (Ka)

Ka (own name: kutu na kakwa ) is spoken by more than 80,000
people in Uganda, Zaire, and the Southern Sudan (Tucker & Bryan
1956:108).

Of the BARI Group Ka is the only language I had opportunity
to study twice during field work: in December 1977 when, on my
way back to West Germany from Kenya, I spent three days in Juba,
and then in February 1979 during my linguistic survey of BARI and
LOTUKO.

My informant in 19 77 was Mr. Godfrey Taban L u a t e , then 16
years old and a student at Loka Senior Secondary School (2nd
class). Mr. Luate whose father is Kakwa but whose mother is Ganda,
was born in Kakira, Uganda, where he also lived during the first
years of his childhood.

In 1979, my informant was Mr. Joseph S o r o b a , then 24 years
old; he was born in Yei/Yei River District, but spent most of his
life outside his home area: from 1962 until 1967, he lived in
Zaire moving to Uganda during the times of the Civil War in the
Southern Sudan, 1968-1976. Since 1977, Mr. Soroba works as an as-
sistant price control officer in the Ministry of Commerce, In-
dustry and Supply in Juba. Apart from ica, he speaks English,
(Juba) Arabic, Swahili, and Lingala.

Information available from published sources is not only
scarce, it is mostly unreliable, too. However, a few words are
occasionally quoted from Czekanowski 1924 as modern attestations

159

THE HISTORICAL RECONSTRUCTION

in support of lexical reconstructions.

7.1.3. Kuku (Ku)

Tucker & Bryan (1956:107) give altogether about 24,000 ku
speakers for the Southern Sudan and Uganda. No recent figures
are available here, as is the case for all the other BARI and
LOTUKO languages. The Kuku*s own name of the language is kutuk
na kuku (see also Tucker & Bryan, loc-cit.).

All data on Ku are my own due to lack of published sources.
Here, my informant was Mr. Henry K o d a , then 21 years old, who
was born in Kajo Kaji where he spent most of his life except for
1968-1972, when he lived in Uganda. Mr. Koda is now an assistant
printer at the University of Juba. In addition to his mother
tongue, he speaks English, Arabic, Madi, and a little Swahili.

7.1.4. Mondari (Mo)

Literature provides several variants for the spelling of this
(northwesternmost) BARI dialect which in my opinion is least
closely related to Ba proper. Besides Mandari and Mundari, one
may frequently find Mondari which I have chosen for the present
study despite the fact that the Mondari (about 36,000) call them-
selves mundari and their language kutuk na mundari , as stated
correctly by Tucker & Bryan (1956:107).

My informant, who corroborates Tucker & Bryan's (loc.cit.) ob-
servation of slight local variants of Afo, was Mr. Dimo Are
M u 1 1 a , then 27 years old; he was born and grew up in Tali Post.
Mr. Mulla, formerly a junior secondary school teacher, now works
as a lands officer in the Ministry of Housing and Utilities in
Juba. Apart from wo, he has a good command of English and Arabic.

7.1.5. Nyanggwara (Na)

According to Tucker & Bryan (1956:107): "Diateot:nYANGBAKA.
Spoken by: nyangbara (nyangwara, nyambara) ^ call themselves
nyaKigbara ;...** Of these variants only NYANGWARA was used by my

160

R^daktion: Rainer Vo0en

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Vossen, Rainer:

The eastern Nilotcs: linguist, and histor.
reconstructions / von Rainer Vossen. - Berlin:
Rcimer, 1982,

(Kolner Beitrage zur Afrikanistik; 9)

ISBN 3-496-00698-6 brosch.;

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